Improvement in ordnance



W. WRIGHT.

Ordnance.

Patented May 29, 1866.

,wltnesses:

Inventor: aw

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

LEMUEL WELLMAN WRIGHT, OF THORNDIKE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT lN ORDNANCE.

Specification tbrniing part of Letters Patent No. 55,193, dated May 29,1866; antedated May 16, 1866.

To all about it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEMUEL WELLMAN WRIGHT, a resident ofThorndike,in thecounty of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have made a new and usefulinvention having reference to Gannon or Ordnance; and [do hereby declarethe same to be fully described in the following specification andrepresented in the accompanying drawing, which denotes a longitudinalsection of a cannon made in accord ance with my invention.

The nature of my said invention consists in a series of concentriccylinders of wrought iron or steel brazed together to form a cannon inthe manner hereafter shown.

In carrying out my invention, or, in other words, constructing a pieceof ordnance in my improved manner, I first make a cylinder or tube, a,of wrought iron or steel, of a proper length and thickness, according tothe size of thegun I intend tomake. Next, i form a series, I) b, &c., ofrings or tubes, of twelve inches in length, more or less, fromrolled-iron plates, and place such tubes concentrically upon the centraltube, (t, the said tubes 1) having such an internal diameter as to beeasily slipped upon such tube a. 1 next make another series, 0 c, &c.,of tubes, of an internal diameter sufficient to allow them to be slippedupon the former series, and so dispose them as to cause the latter tobreak joints with them. This operation I repeat with series (I d, Ste, 0c, &c., of larger tubes until I have acquired the proper thickness forthe gun. These tubes should all be lap-welderh I make the breech f ofthe gun of solid iron or steel, and with a boss to fit into the centraltube or cylinder, such boss having a male screw formed upon it to screwinto a female screw made on the inner surface of the tube a, as

shown in the drawing. I next put on a tube or ring, 0, having thetrunnions welded to it. This having been accomplished, 1 next pickle themass or series of tubes in diluted sulphuric acid, for the purpose ofcleaning the surfaces of the tubes from oxide, scales, and otherimpurities. Next I place the embryo gun in a vertical position on amovable truck or other suitable device, and while in such position Icoat both the internal and external surfaces of the gun with plasticclay, so as to entirely insulate it from the atmosphere, and after suchclay has become dry the truck, with the gun, is to be run into a furnacemade for the purpose, and having a temperature such as will soon raisethe metallic tubes of the gun to a red heat, \or such a heat as will notallow the melted solder or metallic compound g, which is to be pouredinto the upper ends of the series I) 0 d c of tubes, to become chilled.The fluid metal or solder should be poured into such tubes until, aidedby gravitation and attraction, it shall have permeated all the spacesbetween the series of tubes or rings and the central tube, and so as toform a solid mass of brass and iron after the same may have becomecooled.

I claim An improved cannon or piece of ordnance as made with the breechf, the central tube, a, and one or more series of tubes or concentriccylinders, arranged and combined substantially as specified, the wholebeing united or brazed together in the manner substantially as setforth.

LEMUEL \V. WRIGHT.

Witnesses FREDERICK CURTIS, F. P. HALE, Jr.

